Monday, March 24, 2014

Tuesday Tales - Picture Prompt

Hello! It`s time for
Tuesday Tales again.
This week I`ll be sharing excerpts from my 2013 NaNoWriMo novel, Laco
Law – The Gnarled Oak. Laco Law
is an M/M historical western romance, set in the fictional county of Laco,
Texas in 1867.

We have a picture prompt
this week so the excerpt is written to reflect the image and must be three
hundred words or under. In this snippet we find Clay and Zeke have arrived in
Galveston.

A
note for my readers: This is a gay
romance novel, and so the romance that occurs is man on man. If this is not
your cup of tea, no one will think less of you if you read no further.

As
this is my NaNo work, it is quite rough. I do ask that you
overlook any glaring mistakes you may find. Please do check out the other
wonderful writers after you`re done reading by clicking on the Tuesday Tales
link at the bottom. Thanks for stopping in!

When
we emerged from that cattle car we were indeed a pitiful sight. Our horses
looked, and I can assume, even smelled better than us. I drew in a deep breath.
Among the various smells of a busy port city there was the salt water tang of
the ocean on the wind. Zeke stood stiffly at my side, the reins to our horses
white-knuckled in his left hand. The city of Galveston was truly remarkable. It
spread as far as the human eye could see. If you glanced in the direction of
the harbor, you could see the masts of the sailing ships above the roofs of the
hundreds of homes and businesses. Carts drawn by horses cluttered every
available inch of space beyond the train depot. Dog was a flurry of indecision.
Zeke spoke to him, telling him to stay close.

Wagons
selling everything from furs, hand-crafted metallic mirrors, and chili con carne vied for our attention. We
walked among the many hawkers peddling their wares. I finally did manage to get
one of the ‘Chili Queens’ – the women who served food in the plaza – to point
me in the direction of the Price Railroad building. After paying her a penny
for a cup of the spicy bean and meat concoction, she pointed us to the largest building
in the railway plaza. Zeke enjoyed the chili con carne immensely

The
Price Railroad & Port Authority office was an impressive wooden structure
with three floors and many windows. We hitched our horses, removed our hats, told
Dog to stay, stamped the cow shit from our boots, then entered the
hustle-bustle office. Several young men looked up from desks. I saw Zeke tug up
the grimy bandana around his thick neck.

“I`m
looking for Mister Brooks Price,” I told the office workers. Above us on the
second floor, a man emerged from an office paned with glass.

This story required as much research as my Greek mythological romances. From chili queens to PTSD in the Civil War, this novel kept my nose in the research pages. It was all worth it, as I discovered a real love for M/M historical romance!